The Summoned
by Qihotex
Summary: Buffy and Willow reconnect on a road trip after Tara's death. - Crossover with Tanya Huff's 'Keeper Chronicles'
1. The PickUp

**Disclaimer:** All BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. All "Keeper" characters belong to Tanya Huff, and possibly others. None of these people or organizations have read this nor endorsed it. The story idea might be mine but this is a derivative work.  
**Summary:** A Post Season 6 BtVS/Tanya Huff "Keeper" series crossover/AU. With a heavy B/W vibe. And **NO** Spike (sorry).  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1-6 of BtVS. All of the "Keeper Chronicles"  
**Author's Notes:** This was originally the first half of the prologue. It has been revised. See the end for additional notes.  
_Revised: 24-Apr-2005_

* * *

**Chapter Title:**_The Pick-Up_

Gently squeezing her shoulder one last time before getting to his feet, Giles paused to brush bits of dried grass from his clothes. He gave her one last long look, wishing he had some way of removing the sad expression from her face, before he headed back towards her cottage to get his car. It was the same expression she directed at him from behind a curtain of long red hair every time he saw her. He knew that on his next visit, rain or shine, he would be able to find her meditating under the same tree in the isolated meadow.

It was a beautiful early autumn day and he would rather have stayed with Willow but duty called. He wasn't looking forward to the surprise meeting in London that the Council Secretary had insisted he attend. He'd learned long ago that there were times when he could safely ignore the Council and this wasn't one of them. He'd managed to avoid any Council meetings or contact since returning to England at the beginning of the summer with Willow in tow. But something was going on in London and they'd insisted that, barring an apocalypse, he make an appearance.

Coming around the stand of trees that hid the meadow from casual discovery, Giles was surprised to see an unfamiliar looking car parked next to his in front of the small cottage. It had the distinctive look of a hired vehicle. He wondered who it could be. The rest of the buildings on the coven's country estate were out of sight but close enough together that most residents walked. But, as he approached the cottage, it was not as much of a surprise as the sight of the young woman sitting quietly on the front stoop, seemingly lost in thought, her short blonde hair gleaming in the sun. She was the last person he would have expected to find anywhere in England, at any time.

"Buffy?" He asked as he came closer, hoping he was successfully keeping his surprise out of his voice. He couldn't think of any reason short of an immanent apocalypse in the neighborhood that would pry her loose from Sunnydale, but from her relaxed appearance she didn't appear to be in a hurry to explain her presence. She just sat there patiently as he approached.

"Hey Giles." She answered in the same calm tone he'd used, looking up at him. She moved to one side and patted the step below the one she was sitting on. "Why don't you take a seat." It was more of a command than a request and he found himself unconsciously doing so. She raised an eyebrow at him as soon as he was sitting, a sign he took to mean he was free to talk.

"What brings you here?" He asked, watching her face closely. He used to think he was able to read her extremely well, but since her return he'd begun to suspect that he'd only ever seen what she wanted him to see. And her current expression was more impenetrable than ever, even though her position allowed him to look directly into her eyes.

"Here England? The Council wanted to see me. Here here? Willow." She gazed at him expectantly. He noticed her lips twitching as she watched him trying to decide which question to ask about first.

Sighing, he took out a handkerchief and rubbed an invisible spot from his glasses, gathering his thoughts before asking the question most likely to cause he or his Slayer problems. "What possessed the Council to bring you to England?"

"You never told me how the Head of the Council was chosen." she replied, looking pensively down the drive and not answering him directly.

"I didn't think it was relevant." He mumbled, shifting nervously and wondering why she'd brought it up, adding, "Quentin Travers will probably outlive both of us."

"He didn't." She told him calmly, turning back and looking him in the eye again.

"What happened to him?" He asked, this time unable to control his surprise, wondering how Quentin's niece had reacted when she found out she was now the Head Watcher.

"Plane crash a week ago." Buffy shrugged as if the details didn't concern her. "He and his posse on the Council were coming back from some trip. Probably out terrifying some future slayer into blind obedience."

"And the new Head?" He asked curiously, putting his glasses back on. "I'm assuming she wanted something from you?"

"Almost. She wanted to see the current slayer and her watcher." She shook her head and glared at him before continuing. "Unfortunately, all she ended up with was me! Someone decided to retire and didn't tell anyone except Quentin Travers!"

"Buffy..." he wilted under her annoyed gaze, just barely resisting the urge to take off his glasses again. "I had planned on telling you eventually."

"Eventually?" She continued glaring at him from her superior position on the stoop. "When is 'eventually'?"

"Retiring was the only way to keep Travers from interfering in Sunnydale. The Council found out about Willow's problems with magic." He reluctantly told her. "He demanded that I do something about her or the Council would take action."

"Well, he can't interfere any longer." She told him grimly. "And you should have told me he was threatening Willow. I would have dealt with him. She's my responsibility, not the Council's. Or yours." She paused for a moment before continuing. "When Willow and I eventually get back to Sunnydale we need to have a long chat about your paternalistic tendencies. Assuming you still want to work with us."

"Back to Sunnydale?" Giles stared at her in confusion. "What are you up to?" he asked suspiciously.

Ignoring his question, Buffy stood up and stretched, looking nervously in the direction he'd come from earlier, before turning back to him. "I'm taking her away from here Giles. Today."

He frowned at her, not sure where she had gotten the idea that she could handle Willow in her current condition. Trying to exert his former authority over her, he briefly attempted to put a stop to it. "I can't allow you to do that. She isn't ready." He told her firmly. "She has a lot more work to do with the Coven before she is."

"She's as ready as she's going to get here." she told him, dismissing his concern with a wave of her hand. "I spoke with Miss Harkness last night. Her magic is as under control as it is going to get here. I think she scares them. They aren't too upset at the idea of her leaving." She held up a hand to stop him from protesting. "She needs to come home to... us. And we need her. Her things are already packed and in my car. It's no longer her choice. Or yours." She looked down at her dust covered boots for a moment before giving him a sad smile. "As painful as it might be at first, she needs to come back to us, her family."

Surprised at the maturity she was displaying, Giles thought for a moment before nodding his head reluctantly in agreement. He'd seen signs that the coven wasn't completely behind Willow's presence in their midst but there hadn't been anywhere else he could take her. "What are your plans?"

"I made a deal with the new Head of the Council." Buffy grinned slightly at his worried expression and sat back down on the stoop. "I think you'll like it."

"As you just reminded me, I'm retired. I don't think my opinion of whatever scheme you've cooked up with 'that' woman will matter." Giles told her grumpily.

"Listen before you condemn." She said, admonishing him like he was a small child. "If you're nice you can play too."

Bristling at her tone and not sure how to take her comments, he simply raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead." He encouraged, leaning back against the railing and crossing his arms.

"I'm taking Willow on a road trip. The Council is paying for it." She grinned at him again.

"What?" He looked at her like she'd grown horns. "Why would they agree to something like that? It must be a trick."

She nodded in agreement at his surprise. "That's what I thought at first. I couldn't believe it until she explained her reasons."

"Which are?" Giles prodded grimly. "What were 'that' woman's reasons?"

"You don't like her. Do you." Buffy commented, giving him a cheeky grin.

"It's none of your business." Giles muttered. "She'll certainly make a much better Council Head than Travers." He stood up and started pacing in front of her. "What were her reasons?"

"She thinks it's a mistake to tie any slayer to a specific spot." Buffy began.

"Like an active Hellmouth?" Giles asked acerbically. "Who else is going to keep an eye on it?"

"That's what I asked her." Buffy told him approvingly. "She didn't have a good answer. But she does have a few ideas she wants to try out. To see if the Council can make better use of my abilities. More than just killing demons attracted to a hellmouth." Leaning down, she picked up a smooth rock and started rolling it between her fingers as if she had all the time in the world.

"And this road trip is one of them?" He stared incredulously at her.

"It isn't so much a road trip." Buffy admitted, "as much as it's a chance to check out some of the mystical hot spots the Council has been ignoring for the last few decades. Places and things that might have needed attention from a slayer but didn't get it because Quentin Travers was too busy playing Council politics to do something about them."

Giles groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, guessing where this was leading. "Cleveland Hellmouth?"

She nodded, squinting in the bright sun and throwing the stone down the driveway before answering. "Yup. Cleveland Hellmouth." She held up a hand to stop him from commenting. "I told her I would take a look at it and some of the other places on her hit list and tell her what I think."

"And this road trip idea?" He could tell she was intentionally avoiding providing him with the entire story behind how she'd been convinced into going to Cleveland and what she was supposed to do once she got there. He grimaced. It didn't take a genius to know it wasn't going to be a simple research trip. When he got to London he was going to have something to say to the new Head.

"We negotiated. I think it'll do Willow some good to be involved in like that. It's sort of a working vacation. A slayer and witch thing. I do the slaying gig, Willow helps me while she works on practicing the non-evil magic thing." She looked anxiously in the direction of the meadow where he'd left Willow and continued speaking rapidly, as if to prevent him from objecting more than he had already. "I have copies of all those books we scanned in years ago, and some other things from the Council library. And I've got the Council archivist on speed dial. So we won't be totally helpless if we run into something that needs to be researched."

Watching her expression as she faced the meadow, he wondered for a moment if she actually knew that that was where Willow was meditating or if she was just guessing. "What about Dawn? What has she been doing while you are gone? And until you get back?"

"She's been helping Xander and Anya repair the Magic Box. That and school have been keeping her out of trouble. Mostly anyway, with the new high school being built over the Hellmouth." She pulled a much folded envelope out of a back pocket and handed it to him. "They want to finish it before Willow gets back to Sunnydale. It's all in that letter." She gave him an earnest look. "They could really use your advice."

"Do they know you are bringing her back with you?" He stuffed the letter into his shirt pocket, planning on looking at it later. "And do they know about this road trip idea?"

"Sort of. They don't know it's really a working vacation. They think it's just the new Council Head trying to bribe the slayer into working with them again." She gave him a firm look. "And you aren't going to tell them. Xander thinks Willow is still so fragile that she'll break and wouldn't understand any of my reasons for this trip. It'll just be between the three of us."

"I'm not sure I understand it myself." Giles muttered under his breath as he sat back down, momentarily forgetting just how good Buffy's hearing really was.

"Don't worry about it." She told him flippantly. "It's all under control." Standing up again, she walked over to her car. Reaching in through the passenger window, she pulled out a large envelope. Returning to the stoop, she handed it to him. "Here. This is from the Council. You should really read what's in it before your meeting tonight."

He gingerly held the envelope in his hands as if it were going to bite. It was the same color used by the Council for some of its most important documents. And usually dreaded by the recipients. "What is it?" He asked her.

"I think you'll like it." she told him, smiling perkily. "I have to go find Willow and you should probably leave now so you can go get ready for that meeting." She leaned down to give him a quick, hesitant hug before dragging him to his feet and pushing him towards his car. "Maybe we'll see you in Sunnydale in a month or two." she told him before heading up the path towards Willow.

He watched her for a minute before shaking his head. Although she still seemed a little worn around the edges, she was obviously very much in control of things. He already knew he wouldn't have any chance of convincing her to change her plans. He stared at the object in his hands and threw it in the open window before getting into the car himself. He would read whatever was in the envelope at home before he headed to the Council office for his meeting. And hopefully he would see what the Council had planned for his slayer and, if need be, stop it before she and Willow ended up in any danger. From experience he knew better than to completely trust the Council, even if there was a new Council Head.

* * *

After four months in the quiet English countryside, the noise in the crowded airport was deafening, and a little scary. Shivering, Willow huddled as close to Buffy as she could get without getting in her way, not really paying attention while she efficiently dealt with their airline check-in. She was startled out of her self imposed isolation when the ticket agent asked to see their IDs. She frowned as Buffy handed over two British passports. 

"Uh... Buffy?" she murmured quietly, not sure what was going on and trying not to attract too much attention. "Passport?"

Buffy gently squeezed her arm before whispering in her ear, her warm breath feeling like a soft caress. "I'll explain everything later."

Willow sighed, forcing herself to stay calm. This wasn't the first time Buffy had used that excuse since she'd almost forcibly removed her from the Coven grounds earlier in the day. Something was definitely going on but she wasn't sure she had the energy to care. Exhausting what little enthusiasm she had for external events, Willow stopped paying attention again, her mind going back to the thoughts she couldn't escape no matter how hard she tried; the look of surprise on Tara's face when she'd died inher arms, and Warren's terror seconds before she'd killed him.

Several minutes later, she was once more forced into the present, this time by Buffy's voice.

"Will?"

"Yes?" She look towards Buffy, noticing that she now had her carry-on slung over one shoulder. She was holding Willow's out for her to take while motioning her away from the counter. "Oh." She grabbed her bag and followed Buffy, grumbling under her breath as she struggled to keep up with the briskly walking Slayer. "Short blondes with short legs shouldn't be moving so fast that taller people can't keep up." She blushed when Buffy, apparently hearing her complaint, slowed down and silently grabbed her hand before once more moving quickly through the crowded airport.

* * *

Willow relaxed in her seat, her heart no longer beating so hard that it felt like it would burst. They'd barely made it to the gate before their flight started boarding. She'd been so focused on keeping up with Buffy that she hadn't had any time to really wonder about their passports or why they were in First Class on a flight to Ottawa, Canada. And, sitting in the aisle seat with her eyes closed, Buffy didn't seem to be in any hurry to explain anything. 

"Buffy?" She opened the eye closest to Willow and gave her a look that Willow recognized. It was her "you might be doing something cute or funny but I'm not going to laugh" look. It had been a long time since Buffy had graced her with one of those looks and she was so surprised that it stopped her questions before she could get started.

"Can you save your questions for a little bit?" Buffy asked. "It's been a really long week. I'll answer all of your questions before we get there." She sat up, and leaning over, kissed a surprised Willow gently on her right cheek. Before sitting back in her seat and closing her eyes again she softly uttered a single word. "Promise."

Shocked once again at how gently Buffy was treating her after her 'gonna end the world' rampage; Willow stared at her for a few minutes before following her example and closing her eyes. She didn't think she would be able to rest but meditating seemed like a good alternative. The last few hours had been very stressful and she could feel her control over her magic wavering. Buffy had been very considerate so far but losing control thirty thousand feet in the air probably wouldn't make her too happy.

* * *

**Continued in** _The Long Way Home_

* * *

**Additional notes:**  
**AN1:** This crossover is with Tanya Huff's "Keeper Chronicles": 

(1) Summon the Keeper ISBN: 0-88677-784-4  
(2) The Second Summoning ISBN: 0-88677-975-8  
(3) Long Hot Summoning ISBN: 0-75640-136-4

All of which can be found on Amazon or at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore

**AN2:**This is a crossover set post Season 6. The differences from canon should be obvious. And not just the B/W-ness of the fic. There is no First or crazy Spike in this fic.  
**AN3:** Yes, this is a kinder, gentler version of the Council of Watchers. No, the world will not implode as a result.  
**AN4:** My policy towards story change/updating demands can be found in my profile.  
**AN5:** Feedback appreciated/welcome.

* * *

**AN6:** For those insist that Spike, Buffy's _Twu Luv_ appear in this fic follow me on a little imaginary journey: 

_Please follow me. Watch out for that low hanging beam.  
Be careful, don't step in the puddle of Chaos demon slime, it's a pain to get out.  
Where are we? You don't recognized the sewer entrance to The Magic Box?  
Shhh! Anya is doing inventory. If she sees us we'll be stuck down here until the next Apocalypse!  
Got your invisibility cloak with you? Good. Xander is working on some shelves to replace the ones Willow threw Buffy through.  
Stay close, if he sees us he'll wake Dawn up and her screech can kill! _

_Okay. See that small glass vial in the plexiglass window case? The one with the damp gray dust in it? Why is it wet? I believe that is Holy Water. The books say it prevents vampire resurrection tricks like the one Wolfram and Hart used on Darla. _

I hope that answers your theoretical Spike question.

* * *


	2. The Long Way Home

**Disclaimer:** All BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. All "Keeper" characters belong to Tanya Huff, and possibly others. None of these people or organizations have read this nor endorsed it. The story idea might be mine but this is a derivative work.  
**Summary:** A Post Season 6 BtVS/Tanya Huff "Keeper" series crossover/AU. With a heavy B/W vibe. And **NO** Spike (See end notes in Chapter 1 for Spike-info).  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1-6 of BtVS. All of the "Keeper Chronicles"  
**Author's Notes:** This was originally the 2nd half of the prologue. It has been revised. See the end for any additional notes.  
_Revised: 24-Apr-2005_

* * *

**Chapter Title:**_The Long Way Home_

Waking midway through their flight, Buffy silently watched her sleeping companion, carefully memorizing her face. She couldn't remember the last time Willow had looked that peaceful. It was almost twenty minutes before she could bring herself to disturb her.

"Willow?" Gently shaking her friend's shoulder, Buffy called her name several times before she opened her eyes. "Have a nice nap?"

"Nap? Wasn't any napping going on here!" Willow feebly protested. "I was just resting my eyes after meditating."

Buffy smiled at her reaction. "If you say so. You had some questions?" She raised an eyebrow when Willow looked around, as if trying to see if anyone was listening to them, before asking her first question.

"Buffy? Why the British passport?"

"Why? I'm not sure how he did it but Giles managed to drag you half way around the world without a passport." She frowned. "Or any other identification. You needed something official looking so I convinced the Council to exercise some of that political power Quentin Travers liked to wave around. They got us both passports to replace our lost ones."

"But we both already had passports. And they weren't lost." Willow gave her a puzzled look. "All you had to do was bring mine with you. And why did we get British passports when we aren't British?"

"Well... yes. I did bring your US passport with me. You still need it when we want to get back into the States." Buffy looked at her nervously, not sure how she would take the next part. "You know, citizenship is a funny thing."

"What do you mean?"

"A long time ago someone in the Council decided that things would be easier if all Slayers and their watchers, no matter where they lived, were British citizens." She grinned at the expression on Willow's face. "Yes, I am legally entitled to wear tweed."

Willow snorted in response. "You better not let Xander know that." She thought about it for a minute before blurting out "Why do I have a British passport? I'm not a slayer! I'm not even British."

"Uh, Will?" Buffy grinned at her and put her hand on Willow's shoulder. "I hate to tell you this... but you are now. No, not a slayer!" she quickly corrected. "You now have dual citizenship like I do. So you are allowed to have a British passport."

"Why? And how?" She frowned at Buffy. "Oh. This was a Council thing wasn't it? I don't really want to know how they did it, do I?"

"No. 'How' the Council does something like that... it's better if we don't think too hard about it." Buffy shook her head before continuing. "As for the why? I thought it was a good idea and the Council agreed with me. If things work out, we should both be travelling a lot to places where it's better to be British. And if you ever really want to go to Oxford, it'll be a lot easier to get in if you are a British citizen."

"Oh." Willow gave her a bewildered look before sitting back in her seat and rubbing her eyes. "Why Oxford?"

"All Watchers spend time there eventually." Buffy took Willow's hand in her own again, squeezing it lightly. "And since you're my Watcher..." and waited for the explosion.

"I'm your what!" Willow gasped, looking around to see if anyone had heard her outburst. "Why me? I don't know anything about being a Watcher. And what about Giles?"

"He's not my Watcher anymore. Quentin Travers forced him to retire this summer." Buffy told her.

"Well, make him unretire!" An agitated Willow insisted. "I can't be your Watcher!"

"It doesn't matter. The new Council Head already has other plans for Giles. If we really need him he'll help out but he won't have time to be my Watcher." Buffy squeezed her hand. "And as much as I love him, Giles isn't the right Watcher for me anymore. You are." She held up her other hand and emphasized her count with her fingers. "I need - One - Someone who knows magic and can really use it. Two - Someone who is good at research. Three - Someone who won't tell me how to live my life but won't let me forget the important things like friendship and family. And four - a friend who's been with me almost from the beginning. And that would be..." She gave Willow a firm look. "You."

Not convinced, Willow stared at her, her eyes wide. "Does he know this? And how did you convince the Council to go along with this? Wouldn't they rather have one of their watcher people be yours?"

"There was a Council meeting in London tonight that he was invited to. All they would tell him before the meeting was that he isn't retired anymore. He won't find out that he isn't my Watcher until the meeting. He should know by now what they really want from him." Buffy laughed. "It's going to be a complete surprise. Once he stops yelling about the Watcher thing he won't be able to resist. I just hope they get pictures of his face like they promised me." She shook her head. "And why did they agree? I didn't give them any choice. It was either you or no one. But you do have to attend the next Council new Watcher indoctrination next summer so you know all the Council rules and regs. And I expect you to go back to school in the Spring."

"Oh..." Willow mumbled before announcing, "I'm not going to wear tweed or act all stuffy! And I'm not gonna follow any rules that don't make sense or don't help you with your slaying. Can't make me!"

Grinning slightly at the appearance of the old Willow, if only briefly, Buffy leaned back into her seat. Reluctant to let go she held onto Willow's hand, gently rubbing her palm with her thumb as she continued. "I told you that Quentin Travers is dead, right?"

Willow nodded. Buffy frowned at the sad expression that crossed her face.

"Well... I spent a couple days in London with the new Council Head before I picked you up. Some protocol thing when a new Head Watcher is selected. She's an interesting person. She's the first potential slayer in one of the Watcher families in a couple centuries." Willow looked over at her in surprise. "She and Giles have some sort of history, though neither one would tell me what."

"And?" Willow prompted. Buffy flashed her a smile before continuing.

"I made another deal with the Council." she admitted, giving Willow a hesitant grin at her disturbed expression. "Not just the one about who my watcher is."

Willow frowned worriedly. "What kind of deal?"

Buffy shrugged nonchalantly. "A good one, I hope. I agreed to work on some of the Head's special projects if they would help out financially."

"So they're going to start paying you?" Willow suggested hopefully.

Buffy shook her head. "Not exactly. That would be too sudden of a change for the new Council Head to make."

"What does financial help mean then?"

"Well... to start with the Council is going to pay off the mortgage on the house and pay for any improvements they think it might need. And they'll pay for my school expenses if I decide to go back to college." Buffy could tell that Willow didn't really know how to react to that revelation. "It isn't much but it makes sense in the long run. There was no way I could do anything extra for the Council with the money I was making working at the 'Double Meat' going into the house." She gave Willow another glance to see how she was taking it. "And even though you're all set for school with your scholarships and the money from your parents, I convinced them that my Watcher would need a stipend to help pay for Watcher stuff like books and weapons."

"There must be a catch." Willow insisted. "The Council isn't suddenly going to be that generous, even with Travers gone."

"Yes..." Buffy admitted slowly. "There are a couple big ones. The Council now owns the house. The Head wants it to be Watcher Central on the West Coast. And they'll pay us to run it. We'll have to move all of the books and weapons out of the Magic Box. It's going to need a lot of work to meet Council standards." She smirked. "Xander will finally get paid to fix up the house."

Willow shook her head at Buffy's scheming. "What else?"

"Part of the agreement is that I get another job. The Head was horrified when I told her where I was working."

"She isn't the only one." Willow grumbled. "If the rest of us had been paying attention to you instead of pretending things were hunky-dory you would never have had to work there."

Letting go of Willow's hand, Buffy leaned over and gave her a hug. "Thanks." she whispered in her ear.

They stayed like that for several minutes before Buffy, starting to feel awkward, let her go. "Of course, some of those special projects do sound kind of dangerous. And they aren't actually being that generous. They're really just giving me the same housing allowance any Council employee gets if they live in a foreign country. I'm not going to get a lot. But any unusual expenses for special projects will be covered by the Council."

"What else aren't you telling me?" Willow asked her suspiciously. "Why are we flying to Ottawa? And what is Giles really going to be doing for the Council?"

"Giles?" She wanted to avoid the Ottawa question as long as possible. Even in her current frame of mind Buffy didn't think Willow would be happy with her when she found out what she'd been committed to for the next month. "He's going to be in charge of all of the potential slayers the Council finds." Before Willow could get too excited, Buffy reluctantly added a small dose reality to the equation, warning her. "Don't start throwing him a party just yet. It isn't going to be that easy. He isn't perfect. Look at what happened with Faith. And he can be kinda stuffy and ruthless at times. But at least he actually cares about the slayer as a person."

"Faith?" Willow stared at Buffy, taking the bait. "What did Giles have to do with Faith turning evil?"

"He was too busy with my problems to notice when she needed help. But he wasn't the only one." Buffy looked down at her lap. "I had a lot of time to think about things this summer. I think we all failed her but Giles and I were the worst. She was our responsibility and we blew it."

"Buffy! How can you say that? You didn't make her turn against us!" Willow protested.

Buffy gave her a stern look. "And who tried to end the world last spring?" she reminded her. "And who didn't notice that something was wrong a long time before that?"

"That was different!" Willow told her huffily, slumping back into her seat.

"Was it?" Buffy raised an eyebrow at Willow's tone. "Someone, who shall remain nameless due to extreme embarrassment, ignored the problems her friend was having and let her crash and burn more than once without offering any real help."

"I'm so sorry." Willow mumbled quietly in a sad voice, pulling her hand away from Buffy's grasp and compulsively rubbing both hands together. Avoiding looking directly at Buffy, her voice barely hinted at her feelings. "If I'd known you needed me I would have done things better."

Reaching over, Buffy gently took Willow's chin in her hand and pulled her face up until they were looking into each other's eyes. Shaking her head, she smiled sadly before she spoke. "I wasn't talking about you."

Her eyes brimming with some emotion that Buffy couldn't quite figure out, Willow made a small sound and asked tremulously "What do you mean?"

"Last year wasn't my best." Buffy admitted. "In fact it sucked way beyond anything. I was too busy trying to escape my crappie life with the Spike thing to notice your problems until it was too late to do more than pick up the pieces. A good friend wouldn't have let things get so bad."

"You had nothing to do with Tara dying and what I did to Warren." Willow whispered hoarsely. "That was all my doing."

"You're wrong. And you're not the only one feeling guilt here." Buffy refused to completely accept Willow's attempt to blame herself. "If I had been there for you last spring, even if he had still killed her, you wouldn't have reacted like that." Not giving Willow a chance to respond, Buffy grabbed her bag out from under the seat in front of her and pulled out several large envelopes. Pretending to ignore Willow's distress at her statement she opened one of them and started studying its contents.

* * *

The silence was broken only once by a flight attendant doling out the evening meal. With the exception of the interruption, Buffy was able to spend almost an hour reading before Willow recovered her composure enough to continue questioning her. 

"Buffy?" the sound of Willow's voice just barely reached her over the planes background noise.

"Yes?" She looked up from the document she was attempting to make sense of.

"You never explained."

"Explained what?"

"Why we're flying to Canada, and why our tickets don't seem to have connecting flights to anywhere after that." She held her ticket up for Buffy's inspection. "How are we getting to Sunnydale after we get to Ottawa?"

"We're driving." Buffy tried not to laugh at Willow's incredulous expression.

"Why?"

"We have to make a number of stops along the way. It just seemed to make more sense to go by car. With all of the places we need to stop it's more efficient." She watched Willow curiously, wondering if she would notice how much Buffy wasn't telling her and how long it would take for her to try to take over their travel plans.

"What kinds of stops and why?"

"Just the usual Council approved stops." Buffy pulled a document out of the pile in front of her and offered it to Willow.

"Usual what?" Willow grabbed the document and started looking through it. "Buffy! This looks like a vacation itinerary!"

Buffy winked at her. "It is. Mostly. Courtesy of the Council. Just don't tell them."

"Why aren't we going straight back to Sunnydale?" Willow asked nervously. "The truth, Buffy!"

Buffy noticed that, just like when she'd convinced her to leave the Coven and go back with her to Sunnydale earlier in the day, Willow didn't call Sunnydale home. She thought for a minute before putting her thoughts into words. "I do know you don't want to go home..."

"I'm not sure I have a home anymore." Willow mumbled, avoiding her eyes and focusing on the list.

"You do." Buffy insisted. "Dawn and Xander are getting anxious for you to come home. But I didn't think it was fair to drop you down onto Hellmouth city so quickly when you just started having some control over your magic. So we're going to ease into things over the next month or so. A bunch of quick demon and evil chasing excursions for the Council. Small doses of evil before the big one. Think of it as a working vacation." She gave Willow a perky smile before shaking a finger at her in mock disapproval. "One that you can't tell them about. The working part anyway. Xander would seriously freak."

"Okay. If you say so." Buffy was surprised at how easily Willow was accepting the explanation. Giving Buffy a puzzled frown, she looked back at the list. "Uh Buffy, why do I recognize some of these places?"

"It was a long summer and I was bored?" Buffy told her sheepishly. "Do you remember that book you had with all of the haunted hotels in it?"

"Yes. Tara wanted to spend the summer after we graduated going to some of them." She told Buffy, her face going blank.

"Geeze Willow, I'm sorry!" Buffy blurted out, dismayed.

"No, it's alright." Willow answered in a tone of voice Buffy recognized as one that said she was definitely not okay. She gave Willow's hand another squeeze before continuing with her explanation.

"The Council has a list of potentially evil places that it likes to keep an eye on. Some of the hotels in that book were on it." Buffy shrugged. "Most of them are actually just haunted. Some have the added bonus of being mysterious. The Head let me pick out some of them to investigate on our trip. I think it'll be fun." She smiled encouragingly at her friend.

"There are some I don't recognize." Willow pointed to several names on the list.

"Well... that one is our first stop after the airport." She put a finger below one of the names. "It doesn't say how it happened but the Council bought it a few years ago. I guess they wanted to protect people from the weirdness that happens there." She handed Willow a folder labeled 'Elysian Fields Guest House'. "It's in Kingston. If we can figure that one out the Council can use it for something Watchery."

"What about Cleveland?" Willow asked, going back to the list after a quick glance through the folder. "Why is it on this list?"

"That would be the ringer in the pile." Buffy grimaced at the way her comment sounded to her ears. "Of the couple non-vacationy places on the list that might actually need both of us to figure out, that is the dangerous one." She pulled another slim folder out of the other envelope and handed it to Willow. "It's the Cleveland Hellmouth."

"Another Hellmouth?" Willow visibly shivered. "What does the Council think we can do about it? Other than get ourselves killed?"

"They are spending a lot of money to get us there if that's their plan." Buffy told her. "This isn't a going to be a cheap trip."

"That they don't have to pay most of if we die in Cleveland."

"Well, there is that." Buffy admitted. "And if that happens you have my permission to say 'I told you so.'" From Willow's expression, Buffy could tell she wasn't too thrilled with the idea. "I think we should give them a chance."

Any further discussions of their plans were cut short with the pilot's announcement that they would be landing soon. Keeping a concerned eye on Willow, who seemed to be displaying a recently acquired fear of flying, clenching her seat with her hands as if coaxing the plane to land by pure force of her will, Buffy spent the few remaining minutes of the flight gathering together all of their things from where they'd drifted during the flight.

* * *

**Continued in:** _Thicker than Dust_

* * *


	3. Thicker Than Dust

**Disclaimer:** All BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. All "Keeper" characters belong to Tanya Huff, and possibly others. None of these people or organizations have read this nor endorsed it. The story idea might be mine but this is a derivative work.  
**Summary:** A Post Season 6 BtVS/Tanya Huff "Keeper" series crossover/AU. With a heavy B/W vibe. And **NO** Spike (See end notes in Chapter 1 for Spike-info).  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1-6 of BtVS. All of the "Keeper Chronicles"  
**Author's Notes:** See the end for any notes.

* * *

**Chapter Title:**_Thicker than Dust_

Willow held on tightly to Buffy's hand as they walked through the cold, damp parking garage at the Ottawa airport. Buffy had somehow convinced the Council to have a car waiting for them somewhere in the concrete maze. Her skepticism taking over, she no longer believed Buffy's claims that the Council was providing them with all of these things for their trip simply because she'd asked for them. And she certainly wasn't going to fall for any of the other vague reasons Buffy had given.

There was something else going on and she planned to get to the bottom of it before they reached Cleveland. As soon as she was warm again, she thought, trying to get close enough to Buffy to share her warmth without invading her space. Which was not looking like it would happen any time soon if the expression on Buffy's face was any indication. "Buffy?"

"Yes?" She stopped and turned back to Willow.

"Do you have any idea what it looks like?"

"Yes. It looks like a car-truck thing. I think it's something British." She gave Willow an exhausted grin before going back to scanning the rows of vehicles in the florescent light. "Go figure."

Standing so close to Buffy was not doing much to help take care of the chill she was feeling, but it was having other unexpected side-effects. Too numb from all of the travelling they'd been doing to think about anything other than getting warm again, Willow decided to save attempting to analyze her feelings for later. Helping Buffy find the car seemed more important right now. "And how do you know that?"

"This." Buffy reached into a jacket pocket with her free hand and pulled out a small black object Willow recognized as a car key fob. "It was in the envelope that watcher type who was waiting for us at the gate gave me."

"Doesn't it have one of those 'find me' buttons on it?" Willow asked, holding out her hand to Buffy, who handed it over with no objection.

"Yes. I've been pushing it whenever we get near something that looks English." She stood on her toes in an attempt to see over the cars filling the row they were walking down in the large parking garage. "I think we're still too far away."

"They couldn't just tell you where it is?" Willow glared at the fob, trying to glean something from the nondescript plastic object. She hadn't paid much attention to the person who'd met them other than to note they were male and dressed in something giving off the faint metaphysical aura of tweed. "What kind of car did he tell you it was?"

"He said something about a dog." Buffy sighed.

Willow raised an eyebrow at her companion. While Buffy's only exposure to anyone even remotely resembling a car guy had been Riley Finn, Willow had lived through Xander's car fanatic stage in middle school and remembered more about cars than she really wanted to. "English? Dog? Wouldn't happen to have been a Rover?" she asked.

"That's it!" Buffy laughed in obvious relief. "Do you see one?"

Standing on her toes, Willow looked around in the stark light. Just barely taller than Buffy, she didn't expect to see much further, especially without Buffy's much vaunted superior Slayer vision. Six months ago she could have quickly done a simple spell to find it. But that was a darker, angrier kind of magic that she was now afraid to use. In her exhaustion all she could feel of the lighter earth oriented magic the coven had encouraged her to use was a small spark within herself. And she wasn't sure if Buffy would approve of any magic not matter how friendly it was. "No. Maybe it's on the next level up? He would happen to have mentioned a floor or row number for it? Or even a color?"

Buffy shrugged slightly, her movement hampered by Willow's hand on one side and their suitcases on the cart she was pushing with the other. "Not that I remember." Releasing the cart for a moment, she pulled a small square of paper out of a jacket pocket. "We have this parking stub also but I didn't see a number written on it."

Willow let go of her hand, taking the parking stub from her. Examining it closely, she noticed several faint markings on one side. Groaning, she looked at Buffy "Giles never bothered to teach you Council short-hand, did he?"

"He mentioned there was a secret language, but he said it was only used for recording certain Council meetings." She gave Willow a puzzled look. "Why?"

"That isn't strictly true." Willow told her. "Some Watchers used it for their diaries. You can also use it to safely write down some kinds of spells. Whomever invented it must have been very clever." She shook her head. "Looks like that Watcher who gave you the keys is a fan."

"So the numbers are there? But in that secret Watcher language?" Buffy asked.

"Yes." Willow slowly translated the script in her head. It was an unusual written language and required some effort to wrap her brain around. She suspected, from the grammatical twists and turns it took, that it had been invented by a slayer and later been appropriated by the Council for their own uses but she'd yet to find any proof. "Looks like we're on the correct level." She looked around for some indication of the row they were on. "We're on Row F But we need to find Row J."

"Okay..." Buffy looked around again, repeating an odd hop she'd been doing earlier to see over the rows of cars that Willow found fascinating. "That way." she pointed back the way they'd come.

Finally reaching the correct row, Willow pressed the button again. A small vehicle at the opposite end of the row flashed its lights.

Willow stared at it in disbelief. "Yellow? Someone wants to be able to pick us out of a crowd. A hundred miles away."

* * *

The sound of tires humming away as they headed southwest towards Kingston, with the occasional muted thud as they ran over a bump or expansion joint in the pavement, was oddly soothing to her enhanced hearing after being barraged for hours by the sound of roaring jet engines on their flight from London. 

Glancing over in the dim light at her dozing friend, Buffy wondered how long the truce would last. How long it would take for Willow to stop trying to hide from her problems and assert herself. She wasn't really sure what she'd expected when she'd picked Willow up from the Coven but this clingy, distant version of her old friend certainly wasn't it. This person only remotely resembled the Willow who had kept the Scoobies together when she'd died.

It wasn't that she minded the physical closeness that had sprung up between them. She had initiated a lot of it herself, unable to resist grabbing one of Willow's hands at the slightest excuse. But they hadn't shared each other's personal space so much since Willow had met Tara. Even though the Coven's healers had encouraged her to maintain some physical contact with Willow as part of her healing, Buffy didn't want to do anything that would interfere with Willow's progress in dealing with her grief.

She knew they still had so many issues to work out between them if they were going to remain friends, but she couldn't imagine how to even begin bringing them up. She wasn't sure she could even explain to herself why she was still angry at being brought back from Heaven but accepting of Willow's self-destructive madness when she couldn't bring Tara back. Hopefully this trip would give her the opportunity.

* * *

After several minutes of jiggling the key turned reluctantly in the rusty lock. Taking a quick look over her shoulder at Willow, still asleep in the Rover, Buffy turned the door knob. Flicking on the flashlight she'd found in the glove-box with her other hand, she pushed open the front door and peered around it curiously before reluctantly entering the dark building. She wasn't expecting anything to be wrong but thought it would be a good idea to take a quick look around and get their suitcases into the small hotel before she woke Willow. 

The trip down from the airport hadn't been long, compared to the rest of their journey from Westbury, but after leaving the close quarters of their warm Rover, Buffy couldn't avoid shivering in the damp air of the hotel's lobby. Standing just inside the door and shining her flashlight along the floor and into the dark corners she could see from her position that a think layer of dust seemed to cover everything. It looked like nothing had been in the hotel for a long time. Stretching out with her enhanced senses Buffy couldn't detect any signs of life, or even unlife, in the hotel. Sighing with relief, she decided they could begin exploring in the morning.

The small collection of papers the Council had given her had mentioned a manager's suite attached to the hotel office. That seemed to be the best place to spend the night. Looking around she spotted a door behind a counter on the other side of the room. Cautiously walking across the lobby, she stopped in front of the counter and looked for a way through it. While jumping over it was always an option, the dust covering the floor was so thick that she didn't want to risk slipping. She would prefer to find the proper way to reach it.

Shining her flashlight along the barrier, she noticed a small hinged section of countertop next to the wall. Walking over to it she couldn't find anything like a latch that would allow her to move it without destroying it. Taking advantage of a gap she could duck under, Buffy found herself behind the counter.

Next to the door was a large collection of numbered light switches. On a whim, and hoping the Council had managed to have the electricity turned on as promised, Buffy pressed the switch closest to the office door. The area around the counter was flooded with a dim yellow light that caused her to squint until her eyes adjusted to the sudden change.

Opening the office door, she ran her free hand along the wall just inside the room until it collided with something that felt like a light switch. Pulling on it, she grinned to herself when the office lit up. Looking around she decided that the office could probably also wait for the morning. She really needed to find the door to the suite so she could get herself and Willow into bed.

There didn't seem to be an obvious door but one wall was free of any bookshelves. Several large dark panels in the center of the wall didn't quite match the color of the rest of the room. Stepping up to it she noticed that one of the panels had an edge that slightly stuck out from the wall. Pressing on it curiously, she heard a small click and quickly stepped back in surprise when the entire section popped out to reveal a doorway. "That was cool." she muttered to herself. Cautiously walking through the short hallway, Buffy found herself in a small sitting room. Finding another light switch, she turned on the only light in the room, a small table lamp next to a small love-seat. It revealed a tall, skinny window in one wall and doors in the other two opposite walls.

Looking in the room to her left, Buffy found a small bedroom with a closed closet, a double bed and dresser. The bed had a bare mattress and the only light in the room seemed to have a burned out bulb in it. Frowning, she shone her flashlight around. Hopefully, somewhere in the hotel she could find something to put on the bed.

The other door opened on to a moderately sized bathroom. It wasn't very fancy but at least the lights worked. Glancing quickly at the strange looking shower and turning a faucet on the sink, she sighed with relief when she saw that they at least had running water. It even seemed to be clean.

Buffy took one last look around the suite before heading back out to the Rover to get their things. Willow could have the bedroom and she would sleep on the love-seat.

* * *

With their suitcases sitting in the manager's sitting room, Buffy took a quick break to get a feel for their surroundings. Standing at the top of the steps, she looked around in the dim glow from a nearby streetlight. There didn't seem to be anything special about the neighborhood to merit the Council's attention. The nightlife she'd seen so far was definitely of the non-evil variety. The hotel itself hadn't set off her apocalypse detector yet either. Whatever supernatural weirdness the Council thought the hotel contained wasn't something blatantly obvious. 

Shrugging, knowing that if there was any weirdness in the area it was bound to be attracted to her before they left Kingston for their next stop, she headed over to the Rover and opened Willow's door. The redhead was curled up in her seat like a small child. She wasn't sure she could get her into the hotel without waking her but she was going to try.

Leaning as close as she could, Buffy placed Willow's right arm across her shoulder. Gently reaching between the seat and Willow's lower back with her left arm and under her knees with her right, Buffy pulled Willow towards her and out of the Rover, glad for her slayer strength. Willow murmured in her sleep and instinctively tightened her arms around Buffy's neck.

She managed to get Willow into the hotel, past the counter, and onto the love-seat without waking her. She wished she could just leave her sleeping and tuck her into the bed and join her, but she still had to find something to put on the bed and somehow she didn't think Willow would appreciate someone else getting her into her pajamas.

Walking into the bedroom, lit only by the light from the other room, Buffy looked through the dresser, finding it completely empty. Turning next to the closet, she opened the door and noticed a cord and bare bulb dangling from the ceiling. Pulling on the cord flooded the closet and bedroom with a shaft of light from the closet. Surprisingly, the closet wasn't completely empty. On a shelf that ran the length of the closet were several dust covered, sealed packages. Reaching up to grab them, Buffy grunted in exasperation when they fell on her head, covering her hair with dust.

* * *

The first thing Willow noticed was the lack of motion. The next was that she was no longer in their Rover and that she was lying on some sort of couch in a dimly lit room. She assumed she was at their hotel but she couldn't remember getting there. There seemed to be several doors in the room leading elsewhere and a tall, skinny window occupying what she assumed was an outer wall. 

Hearing some grumbling from someone that could only be Buffy, she rolled off of the couch and clumsily got to her feet. Looking around, she headed towards the door the voice was coming from.

Leaning against the doorjamb, Willow watched her friend bustling energetically around a small bedroom. She'd never thought of her as very domestic so the sight of her making a bed and attempting to fluff up several very flat pillows was mildly amusing. Buffy gave no indication that she'd noticed her yet but Willow knew that there was no way she hadn't seen her standing there. So she was either ignoring her because she didn't want to talk or she was intentionally putting on a show.

"Buffy?" Willow asked quietly, finally catching Buffy's attention. "Where are we?"

"The manager's suite in the Guest House."

"How did I get here?" She waved her arm in a vague motion, encompassing the two rooms she could see.

"I carried you in." Buffy admitted.

"You couldn't wake me up?" Willow frowned at her.

"You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you." Buffy shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Have you checked things out yet?" She asked curiously.

"No." Buffy shook her head. "I thought we could start after breakfast. The place hasn't had anyone in it in months. We're lucky the Council remembered to have someone turn on the utilities for us. And that they work."

Willow shivered. It wasn't really that cold but compared to the English weather they had just left it was noticeably chilly. She was still tired from the trip and could feel the cold settling into her bones. "Where's the bathroom?" she asked, yawning.

"It's that door on the other side of the suite." Buffy told her. "Why don't you get ready for bed, I'm almost done. Your case is next to the bathroom door."

"What about you?" Willow asked.

"I'm all set for now. I'll get ready when you're done."

"Okay." Willow yawned again before turning around and heading across the sitting room.

* * *

She came out of the bathroom later to find Buffy missing. Noticing a light coming from under the door she'd noticed between the bath and bedroom, she cautiously opened it to find herself in what was obviously an office of some sort. Buffy was sitting behind a large desk that dominated the room, seemingly absorbed in the stack of folders open in front of her. 

"Buffy?"

"Hey Will!" Buffy looked up, giving her a quick smile. "All set?"

"Yup. It's all yours." She looked around curiously. "What's this room?"

"The manager's office. The front desk is out that way." Buffy waved towards another closed door. "I'll show you tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Why don't you head to bed? I'll be in in a few minutes." And she went back to examining something in front of her as if Willow wasn't there. Willow stood there for a moment, just staring at her friend. This was a side of Buffy she'd rarely seen until she'd shown up in Westbury, so uncharacteristically focused and business-like.

"What side do you want?" Willow asked over her shoulder as she turned to leave. "Of the bed?" She clarified at Buffy's blank look.

"Side?" Buffy frowned at her. "The bed is all yours. I'm sleeping on the love-seat."

Willow just nodded, not completely surprised. She wasn't sure why Buffy felt the need to sleep there when there was plenty of room in the bed for both of them but she was too tired to argue.

Crawling into the cold bed, Willow lay there for a long time, staring up at the dark ceiling and listening for any sounds that Buffy getting ready for bed, before eventually falling asleep by herself. Some time during the night she was awoken by a nightmare. The details were gone from her mind before she could remember them, leaving only a vague uneasiness behind.

Waking up again several hours later she was surprised to find she was no longer alone in the large bed. Lying on the bed, facing away from her towards the door, was a familiar blonde headed woman.

"Buffy?" she whispered in a soft voice. Her old friend just murmured something unintelligible into the pillow and didn't wake up. Still groggy and sleepy, Willow wrapped her arms around Buffy's waist from behind and held on tightly. She would figure out later how, after her announcement that she was sleeping on the love-seat, Buffy had ended up in the bed anyway. For now, for the first time since Tara's death, her need for human contact overrode her fear of rejection. Burying her face in Buffy's hair, Willow took a deep breath and fell back asleep.

* * *

**To Be Continued in:** _The Possibilities_

* * *

**Additional Notes:**  
**AN1:** The Ottawa airport does have a parking garage, but it isn't as big as the one this chapter implies it to be. And it is too new to have existed when Buffy and Willow would have arrived there. 

**AN2:** There is some vague B/W subtext in this story... if it becomes text the story rating will change.

* * *


	4. Possibilities

**Disclaimer:** All BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. All "Keeper" characters belong to Tanya Huff, and possibly others. None of these people or organizations have read this nor endorsed it. The story idea might be mine but this is a derivative work.  
**Summary:** A Post Season 6 BtVS/Tanya Huff "Keeper" series crossover/AU. With a heavy B/W vibe. And **NO** Spike (See end notes in Chapter 1 for Spike-appearance info).  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1-6 of BtVS. All of the "Keeper Chronicles"  
**Author's Notes:** See the end for any notes.

* * *

**Chapter Title:**_Possibilities_

After taking a quick walk around the neighborhood to assure herself that it was safe from familiar predators, Buffy had gone to bed to the early morning sounds of the unfamiliar city. She wasn't able to sleep for long. She couldn't quite pinpoint it but something had pulled her out of her deep, travel induced sleep. Lying there, listening to the morning traffic with her eyes closed, she felt more comfortable than she'd thought she would be when she'd settled down on the couch the night before. 

And, as she tried to stretch, keeping her eyes closed against the morning sun, she discovered that apparently she wasn't alone. There was a good reason she felt so warm and comfortable. Someone was holding her tightly and from the way they were pressed up against her back it was definitely a female someone. Slightly confused, she finally opened her eyes and noticed that she also wasn't on the couch as she'd expected. Turning her head slightly, she saw a pale face, obscured by wisps of red hair. 

Without having to think too hard about it, she instinctively knew that if she lifted the blanket she would see one of Willow's pale, freckled arms wrapped around her waist and the pressure against her stomach could only be the long fingers of one of her slim hands moving in her sleep. Somehow, during the brief night, she'd ended up in the same bed with Willow. 

The events of the previous night, after she'd returned from her walk and tucked a restless Willow back into bed were very foggy in her mind. But she hadn't been so tired that she wouldn't remember moving to the bed some time during the night. She hoped things would make more sense once she'd woken up completely. But first she had to get out of bed, preferably without waking up Willow. 

Gently removing herself from Willow's grasp, one appendage at a time, she rolled out of the bed, grateful that Willow hadn't woken up. Explaining to her how they'd ended up like that, in such an intimate position, when she had no idea how it happened herself, was not something she wanted to attempt before her first cup of coffee. If she were lucky Willow wouldn't have noticed anything and she would have time to figure it out. 

Shivering in the cold bedroom air Buffy gave one last wistful look at the slight redhead in the warm bed before leaving the room. Crossing the sitting room, she grabbed her smaller case and shut herself in the bathroom.

* * *

The shower had been strange, with water coming out of nozzles at a number of different points and velocities in the small compartment, not missing an inch of her skin, making it difficult to use her soap and shampoo but somehow she'd managed to finish without feeling too much like a drowned rat. She could see where there might be some use for it if she'd just spent the last few hours fighting her way through a cavern full of slimy monsters and really wanted to get clean but when she just wanted a simple shower it was a bit too much. Hopefully she or Willow would be able to figure out the controls so she could take a normal shower before they had to leave. 

Rummaging through her suitcase for something comfortable to wear, Buffy grabbed a pair of worn jeans and pulled them on before replacing the large t-shirt she'd slept in with a brightly embroidered peasant blouse. Digging further, she found a pair of soft leather shoes that were more appropriate for indoor exploring than the leather boots she'd worn the day before. They didn't look as protective or as stylish as the boots but they too were the result of a morning visit to the Council armorer the previous week. 

The armorer, an ancient former field Watcher, had been delighted with the opportunity to provide an actual slayer with some of the special weapons and tools she'd spent so much of her time developing. She had been unable to share them with their intended users while Quentin Travers had been Council Head. Direct access to such Council resources had been one of the many things that had convinced Buffy of the seriousness of the new Council Head's plans to modernize and liberalize the slayer support system. 

Taking a peak in the bedroom after she'd finished dressing, Buffy decided to let Willow continue sleeping. She'd had been unable to be completely silent while getting herself ready for the day but Willow had managed to sleep through it. She was obviously still exhausted from the previous day's trip. Watching her for a minute, huddled under the covers, Buffy decided that it wouldn't hurt their schedule if they spent an extra day settling in at the Guest House, before doing any serious investigation of it for the Council. And from the thick layer of dust that seemed to cover every flat surface Buffy didn't think it would take much to convince Willow to take the extra time if she needed it. 

After a quick glance in the dusty kitchen, Buffy slipped out of the Guest House, leaving the still sleeping Willow a note just in case she woke up before she made it back. She'd seen a bakery and coffee shop several blocks away the night before. The Coven healer had warned her that Willow was eating just barely enough to keep herself alive, but hopefully she could find something there that she would be willing to eat for breakfast. A real trip for food and any other supplies would have to wait for later in the day.

* * *

Willow woke up to a sliver of sunlight shining on the bed. She wondered if she'd imagined Buffy's presence in the bed the night before but stretching out she could just barely make out a faint scent that she'd long ago come to identify as belonging to her friend. Curious, she sat up and looked around but couldn't find any other signs of Buffy's presence. Any further thoughts she might have had were erased from her mind by the enticing smell of fresh coffee mixed with something she was sure were blueberry muffins. Scrambling out from under the covers, she followed her nose out into the manager's office. 

"I know it isn't anything fancy," Immediately noticing her standing there, Buffy addressed her from behind the desk, "but the kitchen needs to be cleaned before we can use it." 

Willow looked down at the steaming styrofoam cups and paper plate full of muffins on the desk. "This looks great, Buffy." She grabbed a chair from the wall and pulled it over to the desk. Sitting in it, she grabbed a warm muffin and the other cup. She could feel Buffy's eyes on her as she consumed the muffin between careful sips of hot coffee. 

Focusing on her muffin, she idly wondered if Buffy would bring up where she'd slept the previous night. When nothing was said by the time she'd finished her muffin she dismissed it from her mind for the time being. Sighing, she stood up and put her chair back. "Where did you want to start?" 

"The kitchen would be good." Buffy answered, getting up herself. "We can clean it up so we can use it and go shopping after lunch." 

"What about the rest of the building?" Willow wrinkled her nose in thought. "You didn't want to clean that too did you?" 

"No. That isn't what we're here for." She paused for a moment, a distant look on her face, before continuing. "The Council can pay someone to do that after we give them the all clear. I don't feel anything wrong here. If there's anything unusual about it, I haven't noticed. But I'm not as sensitive to auras and magic as you are." 

"So you want me to take the building's '_psychic temperature_' ?" Willow frowned as she watched Buffy disposing of the remains of their breakfast. 

"Yes, Please." Buffy smiled warmly at her and Willow felt something undefinable but almost familiar growing in the pit of her stomach. "Do you need anything special for that?" 

"Just some place to sit as close to the center of the building as possible." Willow told her. "And time." 

"Can you do it while I start on the kitchen?" Buffy asked her. "No sense in both of us getting grimy."

* * *

After taking a shower and getting dressed, with Buffy's help Willow made herself comfortable in a large, empty, ground floor room they both decided had been used for some kind of social activities in the guest house's heyday. With a quick smile she motioned Buffy out of the room towards the kitchen. She quickly discovered that cleaning it was mostly a matter of removing the thick layer of dust that seamed to coat everything in sight. It had apparently been cleaned thoroughly before being closed up by the Council. 

Sitting Indian style on a large cushion she'd found in a linen closet while rummaging for cleaning supplies for the kitchen, Buffy watched as Willow pulled herself out of whatever deep meditation had been necessary. Blinking in the late morning sun that was now flooding the large room, she smiled hesitantly at Buffy. 

"How did it go?" Buffy asked softly. "Is there anything here?" 

Yawning, Willow stretched her arms above her head and shook her shoulders before answering. "Sort of." 

"Sort of?" Buffy frowned. "What kind of 'sort of' are we talking about?" 

"There is nothing evil in the house." Willow told her. "But there is an echo of something coming from the basement. Like something bad happened there once and someone performed a cleansing ritual." 

"And that's the 'sort of'?" 

"No..." She reluctantly answered. 

Buffy could tell that Willow was bothered by something she'd felt in the house. "So we have a basement that we need to check out. What else? Is it haunted?" 

"Not exactly." Willow yawned again. "I think there is some sort of guardian or earth spirit in the neighborhood..." 

"Am I going to have to kill it?" Buffy asked, looking around and trying to detect whatever Willow had felt. 

"No!" Willow blurted out. "Killing guardian spirits is a bad thing! Lots of bad karma would result from something like that." 

"What if it attacks us?" Buffy "Are we allowed to defend ourselves?" 

"I don't think we could if we tried." Willow frowned again. "If we leave it alone it shouldn't even notice we are here. I think." 

"Okay... no bothering of the spirits." Buffy stood up and reached out towards Willow. "Let's go get some lunch. There's a deli down the street. We can eat and do some shopping. The basement can wait until this afternoon. Or tomorrow if you want." 

"This afternoon is fine." Willow told her before grabbing her hands and being pulled to her feet. "No sense in putting it off until tomorrow."

* * *

It was a rare warm autumn day in October and with Claire in Niagara Falls for the rest of the week, Dean had taken advantage of the weather to begin preparing the Guest House for winter. 

He'd managed to clean the outside of most of the front windows on the ground floor when the normal rhythms of Tuesday morning Kingston were interrupted by the sounds of two people arguing. Stepping down off of his ladder, Dean looked in the direction of the voices and changed his assessment. Not two people. A Keeper and a cat. Headed in his direction. 

Not foolish by the stretch of anyone's imagination, Dean went back to his windows and tried to ignore the two as they neared him. If they were arguing about what it sounded like he had no desire to become involved. He really didn't need to know about Diana's love life. 

"Everyone knows that human-elf romances only work in fan fiction." the softer of the two voices pronounced as they stopped next to his ladder. 

"Says who?" Dean winced at Diana's tone. He'd had enough experience with arguments between Claire and Austin to know that she had just lost whatever argument she and Samuel were engaged in. 

"Just because you wrote a Willow/Arwen fic last Spring doesn't mean your real life is going to turn out the same." 

"You're a Buffy/Frodo shipper! What do you know?" Diana whined. 

"I'm a cat." Sam told her haughtily as if that answered everything, jumping down out of her backpack. Landing next to Dean's ladder he sniffed delicately at the bucket of soapy water Dean was using on the windows. 

Pretending he hadn't observed the exchange, Dean looked curiously at Diana "What brings you here?" 

"A summons." Diana grumbled. "I was busy with other things." 

"Oh. Of course." He nodded nervously. He'd witnessed first hand how busy Keepers were kept though he was surprised she was here and not Claire. The Guest House seemed to attract all sorts of problems that needed attention from a keeper. "What is it?" 

"I'm not sure. It hasn't happened yet." 

"Is that possible?" Dean asked curiously. "Knowing about one before it happens?" 

"No." Sam announced. "She was just looking for a reason to avoid an argument with an elf." 

"Was not!" Diana muttered. "And there will too be a summons. I could feel the shifting possibilities. Something is going to happen here, and since Claire is out of town and I'm free it'll be mine." 

"You think." Sitting, Sam stretched out a rear foot, and extending its claws, examined it critically before addressing Dean. "Isn't it lunch time?" 

Reflexively looking down at his watch, Dean ignored Diana's amused snort. "Yes." He climbed down from the ladder and followed Sam around to the back door. Diana trailed behind them, shaking her head.

* * *

By mutual agreement, they'd begun exploring the basement together after returning from their lunchtime shopping trip. 

"Any idea where we should look first?" Buffy muttered. "Looks like an ordinary basement to me." 

Willow stopped several feet from the bottom of the basement stairs. "This way." She headed towards a large fire-door at the end of the hall. She ran her hands lightly across it. Following her example, Buffy couldn't feel anything herself but the expression on Willow's face, the same look she'd worn earlier upstairs, gave her the answer she needed. She gently moved the unprotesting Willow away from the door and guided her back to the steps, hopefully out of range of anything that might happen. 

"Wait here." She gingerly walked back and prepared to open the door. Her muscles tense, ready to react, she reached down and turned the doorknob. Pushing it open, she quickly reached in and flipped the light switch she felt just inside the door before going through the door herself. 

From the size of the rest of the Guest House, Buffy guessed that the room took up at least a third of the basement. At least half of it was empty, with things that Buffy vaguely recognized from other basements filling the non-empty space. Not seeing anything unusual, and not sensing any danger, she stepped back out. "It looks okay." She called out to Willow. 

Willow quickly walked over to the door and peered inside. "Looks like a standard basement." She told Buffy. "Hot water heater, boiler, electrical panels." She followed Buffy into the room, stopping in the middle of the open space. "Whatever is causing those psychic echoes happened here. Maybe." 

"Maybe?" Buffy had been wondering at Willow's vagueness and gave her a skeptical look. "Is it related to that 'sort of' earlier?" 

"Umm... yes." Willow gave her a sheepish look. "I can't really explain it better than that. It really is like an echo. Or waves in a pond when you drop a rock in the water. It's like I'm not close enough to get an exact picture of whatever happened." 

"Any idea why?" 

"Possibly." 

"And?" Buffy demanded. She didn't want to push Willow too far before she was ready but she needed to know what she was thinking. Too much vagueness in unfamiliar territory made her nervous. 

"Can it wait? I need to think about it some more." Willow protested. 

"Okay." Buffy reluctantly agreed. "But if it is dangerous I need to know so we can deal with it." 

"As soon as I figure it out I'll tell you." Willow acknowledged. "Can we check the rest of the basement?" 

"Sure." Buffy strode out of the boiler room, Willow following her. Back at the steps, Buffy noticed that Willow seemed to be having a hard time turning her attention away from it towards the rest of the basement, even though it had been her idea to move on. "What's wrong?" She asked. 

"I'm not sure." Willow admitted. "I can't seem to clear that echo from my head." 

"Do you want to skip the rest of the basement?" Buffy asked her. "We can start checking out the rest of the house tomorrow and save the rest of the basement for last." 

"No. I'll be fine." Willow sat on the bottom step, rubbing her temple. "But maybe I should stay here while you look around?" She gave Buffy a pleading look. 

"Okay." Buffy looked at her stubborn friend. She wasn't too worried. Yet. "There are just a couple doors. I'll see what is behind them and then we can do something else for the rest of the day." 

Willow nodded. Buffy could feel her watching as she walked back to the other end of the basement and opened the door across the hall from the boiler room. "Will?" She called, as she looked in. "Looks like this is the laundry room." She closed the door and moved to the next door, next to the stairway. Before opening it she looked at Willow, who was quietly watching her. 

Feeling for a light switch, she flooded the space beyond the door with light. "Hey! Look!" She walked in through the open door. "Looks like a small apartment," she called out to Willow. "I bet it was used by someone who worked here. Not exactly where you would put a guest." She walked back out of the small apartment, turning off the light and closing the door behind her. "I guess that's it," she told Willow, returning to the steps. 

"What about that door?" Willow asked curiously, pointing down the hallway. 

"What door?" Buffy looked around in surprise. Willow was pointing at a blank section of wall.

* * *

**To Be Continued in:** _Guest Appearance_

* * *


	5. Guest Appearance

**Disclaimer:** See part 1  
**Summary:** See Part 1

* * *

**Chapter Title:**_Guest Appearance_

"What door!" Leaning forward, Willow gave her a puzzled look, her nose slightly flared, her face scrunched up. Buffy quickly covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her snort of amusement at the sight. Willow raised an eyebrow at her reaction. "Don't you see it?" she asked, waving towards the wall. 

"All I see is a wall," Buffy said, walking over to the place Willow had been pointing at. "Where is it?" Buffy watched her friend cautiously get up from her seat on the bottom step and walk over to her side. "What do you see, exactly?" She turned back to the wall and stared at it, trying to see whatever Willow thought she saw. 

"There's a doorway with a door panel thing in it. Made out of wood." Willow told her. She walked forward and slowly ran a hand along the surface of the wall. As Buffy watched Willow's hand would occasionally blur, making it appear as if the wall weren't quite as solid as it looked. She could see that something strange was going on but she still couldn't see a doorway. Willow frowned, looking back at Buffy. "You still don't see it?" 

"No... there's nothing there," Buffy murmured. "Not that I doubt you." she added quickly, berating herself silently for the almost slip-up. She'd almost forgotten how fragile Willow's confidence was. 

"It's a concealment spell of some sort. I think." Willow said, hesitantly. "Give me your hand." 

"Okay," Buffy said, trying to project confidence towards Willow as she reached over with her right hand. Following the gentle pressure of Willow's fingers as they guided her hand along the surface, she carefully touched the wall. Her eyes were still telling her it was a wall, but her fingers felt something that didn't match. "Can you get rid of it so we can both see what it's hiding?" she asked, reluctantly pulling her hand from Willow's grasp. 

"I guess I could." Willow said, frowning in thought. Reaching out again, she stared at the wall for several minutes. "I'd have to use magic to do it." She gave Buffy a pleading look. 

"And?" Buffy raised an eyebrow. Willow hadn't been as reluctant earlier when she'd checked the guest house for magical influences. "You were doing magic this morning." 

"It's not the same thing," Willow said, shifted nervously. "That was just listening to the background magic. I usually have to work hard to not feel and hear that. You want me to do magic magic." Her voice wavered. 

Buffy wondered if she were asking too much after just narrowly avoiding stomping on Willow's confidence, but only for a second. She suspected she would need a lot more magic from Willow when they got to Cleveland. "I need you to do this for me, Willow," she said, lightly gripping Willow's shoulder, hoping to encourage her. 

"You might want to step back." Willow murmured, taking a deep breath. 

Stepping back several paces, but not so far that she couldn't protect her friend if something attacked from the door, Buffy watched as she took several more deep breaths. Holding her hands over the wall, her fingers splayed out like the points of a lopsided star, Willow began whispering something that sounded like Spanish to Buffy's untrained ear. A small spot on the wall in front of them began to glow, emitting a purple light that grew until it resembled the shape of a door. 

Lowering her hands, Willow stared at the door shaped glow for a minute before raising her right hand, palm side up, horizontal to the floor. Aiming the fingers of her hand towards the wall, Willow blew across her palm. A faint blue light that Buffy just barely saw sprang up and flew like dust towards the wall. When the blue light met the purple wall there was a faint popping sound and to Buffy's eyes the wall seemed to dissolve, leaving behind a solid wooden door. 

"It's a door." Buffy blurted out in relief. 

"Told ya." Willow said. 

"Yes. Sorry." Buffy grinned, not embarrassed in the least. She was just relieved that Willow had been able to uncover it. Stepping closer to Willow, Buffy put her hands on her friend's shoulders and guided her back to the stairs. "Wait here while I check it out," she told her. 

Buffy looked at the door for a moment. It was hingeless. Door panel more accurately described it. There didn't seem to be a knob or handle of any sort but one side of it had a worn spot where one might be. Putting a hand against it, Buffy applied a little pressure. The door moved but not in the manner she expected. If she hadn't been a slayer, when the door suddenly slid into the wall to its left she would have fallen forward into the metal gate that was revealed. 

"Do you know anything about elevators?" Buffy asked as she stared through the metal gate. She'd only ever seen something like it on TV but it was definitely an elevator. 

"Nope." Willow told her. "Is that what it is?" 

"Yup." Reaching forward, Buffy pulled back the gate and looked into the dim interior. "I wonder if it still works. We don't have time to get someone in to fix it." 

"How hard could it be?" Willow asked. Joining Buffy, she stared curiously at their find. 

"I think you pull this." Buffy pointed at a lever inside the door. 

Bending down, Willow blew away dust, revealing numbers next to notches at the bottom end of the lever. "That looks like a dead-man's switch," she croaked, coughing. 

"A what?" 

"Dead-man's switch. Trains have them," she said. "I didn't know they put them in elevators. If you let go of it the elevator stops." 

"So we can't just set it to a floor and see if it makes it. One of us has to ride it the whole way." 

"Uh huh." 

"I'll do it. You can meet me upstairs." Buffy said, staring at the controls, halfway expecting Willow to object, given her just completed demonstration of her superior knowledge of all things mechanical. 

"No." Willow said. "We do it together. There must be a reason it was hidden away like that." 

"I can handle anything that might happen." 

"Not if it's something magical." Willow said, a very faint echo of her resolve face appearing. 

"Willow..." Buffy objected, though not too strenuously. It was nice to see some assertiveness from her friend again, even if now wasn't the best time for it. 

"Something is going to happen." Willow told her, her voice squeaking. 

"Like what?" Buffy asked. 

"I don't know," she admitted, blushing. "It's just a feeling. But that isn't an ordinary elevator. You'll need me." She stepped closer, putting her hand on Buffy's arm. "Both of us go or neither." 

Buffy sighed, after another quick glance in Willow's eyes she didn't have the heart to force the issue. 

"Okay then. But let's do this right," Buffy said, suddenly feeling compelled to arm herself before entering the elevator. Taking Willow's hand she pulled her up the stairs, directing her into the manager's office and stopping next to the desk. "Wait right here." she told her, before continuing into the living quarters. Opening one of her suitcases, Buffy pulled out a smaller case and took it into the office. Laying it out on the desk, she carefully opened it. 

"New?" Willow asked, staring at the contents curiously. 

"Spent some time with the Council armorer when I was in London." Buffy said, giving her a small grin. "She had all sorts of toys for me to play with." 

"The Council has a 'Q'?" Willow asked, reaching out and gingerly touching a stake. 

Buffy frowned. "Q? Oh! The Bond guy. I guess." She shrugged as she took out a boot knife and a hidden stake sheath holding one of the slim stakes the armorer was so proud of. They weren't as good as a sword or crossbow but they were just going up an elevator in an empty hotel. 

"Why don't you see if there's anything there you like." Buffy said, going back into the sitting room to change into her boots, the boot knife sliding into its' sheath in her left boot making her feel less naked. 

"I don't need anything." Willow protested. 

"Are you going to be able to use magic to defend yourself?" Buffy asked. 

"Umm..." Willow looked down, her hair covering her face. She shrugged. "Maybe?" 

"Pick something you can put in a pocket." Buffy told her while she strapped on the hidden stake, glad it was cool enough for long sleeves. 

Grimacing, Willow selected a knife small enough to fit in a pocket. "All set." 

Buffy nodded, knowing this was something else she would have to work with Willow on. The knife wouldn't be much help against a determined assailant but was better than nothing. They weren't in Sunnydale where people seemed to ignore anything odd like the gang carrying real weapons but she felt the need to be armed in some way. 

"This has the potential to be very embarrassing." Buffy told her, taking the lead as they headed back down to the basement and the elevator. 

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, as they stopped in front of it. 

"We didn't check to see if the doors are covered over on the other floors." Buffy said. 

"Oh. Do you want to go do that first?" Willow asked. 

"Nah. We can check while we're on this ride." 

"Ride?" Willow shook her head. 

"Excursion?" Buffy tried again. 

"You're taking that British passport seriously, aren't you." Willow giggled. 

"Certainly not!" Buffy protested, winking at her. "Shall we proceed with our journey?" She held out her hand. 

"Let's" Willow answered, giving Buffy a small smile as she allowed herself to be guided into the elevator. Buffy reached around her to pull the gate shut behind them, suppressing an involuntary shudder as her hand brushed along Willow's back. 

"How do we want to do this?" she asked, hoping Willow hadn't seen her blush at their contact. "All the way to the top first? Or stop at each floor on the way up?" 

"Stop at each floor." Willow said. 

Buffy nodded. She didn't think it really mattered. Looking at Willow for a moment, she gently pushed the lever forward to the first notch. They both started in surprise as the sliding door automatically closed behind them. The elevator shook for a second before lurching upward. She could hear the faint sounds of some sort of machinery above them as it moved. 

The elevator came to a stop on the ground floor and the door slide into the wall. Opening the gate, Buffy stuck her head out and looked around for a moment before concluding that it looked normal. 

"So, the door isn't hidden on the other floors?" Buffy asked, looking back at Willow "I didn't see it when we were upstairs." 

"Maybe the shielding charm is only one way? If you're in the elevator you can see out? I can check it when we're done." Willow said. Buffy nodded and closed the inner gate. 

They repeated the action on the other floors. Next notch on the lever, stay in the elevator and take a quick look around. 

"Looks good." Buffy said when they reached the last floor. She looked at Willow, raising an eyebrow in question. "Do we need to go all the way back to the basement?" 

"The ground floor is fine." Willow shrugged. "Could have been wrong about the feeling." 

Nodding, Buffy pushed the lever forward to the ground floor notch. They rode silently for several minutes until it came to a stop. Letting go of the lever, she pulled open the gate. Holding out her free hand, she guided Willow back out into the lobby. They'd gone several feet before they both realized that something was very different about it. 

"Buffy?" Willow asked nervously. "When did someone come in and remodel the lobby?" 

"Umm..." she looked around, stunned. "I don't think this is our lobby." 

"Okay... I think we know why the elevator was hidden." Willow said. 

"Ya think?" Buffy muttered. "Time travel or different dimension?" she asked, only half seriously. Turning around the corner towards the dining room, she noticed that this Guest House was obviously well cared for. 

"Don't know." Willow said, her eyes moving quickly as she looked around. "Not enough info to know yet." 

Buffy nodded, cautiously walking just a step ahead of her. Until they had proof otherwise she was going to assume this was some sort of alternate dimension. Those she knew how to deal with. Time travel was just too wiggy and twilight Zone-ish. Especially that whole 'kill your own grandfather butterfly' thing. 

She slowed down, holding up a hand to stop Willow. She could sense a very strong mystical presence of some sort nearby. It seemed to be leaking enough power to attract her attention but not enough to pinpoint its exact location. "Can you feel that?" 

"We aren't alone." Willow nodded, whispering. 

"Any ideas?" Buffy asked, keeping her voice very low. 

"It isn't anything evil, but I don't think we want to get them mad." 

"Them?" Buffy asked. 

"There's two of them." Willow said, looking around. "Maybe we should just leave?" 

"It's too dangerous to leave it like that. Do you know how to turn off the elevator once we get back?" 

"No." Willow admitted. "This is the first one like it that I've ever heard about." 

"So we ask." Buffy said firmly. 

Willow looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "And if they aren't happy to see us in their house?" 

"We run?" Buffy said, reaching over and grabbing Willow's hand. 

"Running I can do." Willow agreed.

* * *

Diana sat in the kitchen, watching Dean clean up after feeding them. She almost envied her sister at times like this. Claire had gotten very lucky, she thought, trying not to think about her own faltering relationship. Being around Dean made her feel safe. His presence was very soothing, even to her. 

The sound of the elevator stopping interrupted her thoughts. "I didn't know you had guests," she said. 

"We don't." Dean put down his towel and walked to the kitchen door, looking curiously out into the other room. 

Suddenly, the faint background feeling that had been at the back of her mind for the last few hours, indicating that a summons was about to begin, grew exponentially. She gasped at the suddenness as it slammed into her head, grabbing the counter just in time to stop herself from falling down. 

"Dean?" 

"Yes?" He turned to look at her. 

"I think I should go first." She nodded at the door. "This one's for me." 

"Your summons?" He asked, just barely avoiding tripping over Samuel as he rushed out of the kitchen. 

Nodding, she walked out of the kitchen, stepping in front of him. Or attempting to anyway, her progress halted at the sight of the two women, a blonde and a red head, standing just inside the dining room. For a moment she wondered if she were hallucinating. What were a fictional character and her best friend doing wandering around? 

Her second thought was of total confusion, not helped by Samuel's sudden appearance in front of the blonde. Her third thought? The elevator. Her fourth thought she suspected would be detrimental to her health if these women were who she thought they were.

* * *

Standing inside the entrance to the dining room, Buffy looked around in amazement. "I wonder if they would remodel the dining room in the Council's Guest House." She shook her head at Willow's frown. "Just kidding." Both she and Willow turned to the small kitchen. Whatever they were sensing was in there. 

A tall man stepped out of the kitchen, followed by a girl around Dawn's age. 

"Yum." Buffy murmured under her breath. 

"Can I help you?" The man asked in a warm tone that sent a bolt of warmth through her chest. Buffy wasn't sure what his accent was but she definitely liked it. 

"Double yum." she said in a very low voice, unable to prevent a smile from breaking out. 

"Buffy!" Willow hissed at her. "Now isn't the time for that." 

"Spoil-sport." she grumbled good-naturedly, before continuing. "He's not where it's coming from, is he?" 

"Nope." Willow stared at him for a long moment before explaining quietly. "There's something unusual about him but as far as power goes... he's the eye candy." 

"Decoy?" 

"Only if they knew you were coming." Willow muttered, almost too low for Buffy to hear. 

"Hey!" Buffy tried to give her friend her best innocent look. 

The girl, slightly taller than both of them, started to step in front of the man, halting as she stared at them in apparent shock. Buffy, clearly hearing her quick intake of air looked down at herself and over at Willow but couldn't see anything obviously wrong with their appearance to cause such a reaction. 

"That would be one of them." Willow told her quietly, subtly gesturing at the girl. 

"And the other?" Feeling something brush against her legs, Buffy looked down to see an orange cat rubbing itself against her legs. Unable to resist, she reached down and began petting it. 

"Umm... Buffy?" Willow said, her voice strained. 

"Yeah?" She looked up at Willow. 

"You're petting it." 

"Petting what?" Buffy asked, not really paying any attention to anything except the cat. 

"The other source of power in the hotel." 

"What?" Buffy looked at the cat, looked back at Willow and then back at the cat again. It just sat there, looking up at her as if waiting for her to continue. "It's just a cat." She continued petting it. "See?" 

Nervously following Buffy's example, Willow reached over and attempted to pet the cat. She jumped back when it hissed at her and waved a paw at her, all claws exposed. "Hey!" 

"No being mean to my Willow." Buffy scolded, looking down at it. 

"He has issues," the girl said, her voice slightly tinged with the same Canadian accent Buffy had been hearing since they'd landed in Ottawa. Looking closer, she decided the girl was actually older than she'd originally thought. 

"Issues?" Buffy asked in surprise. "He's a cat." Straightening up, she placed a calming hand on Willow's shoulder, surprised at how strongly she could feel her heart beating. 

"Perhaps," the girl murmured before taking several steps closer. Nodding to herself, she circled them several times, mumbling under her breath, too low even for Buffy's enhanced hearing to understand. "Okay, it's fixable." the girl said, reaching down and picking up the cat. "Let me get my bag."

* * *

**TBC**


End file.
